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AmaraAmadiegwuMidtermPolicyBriefPUBH2115Health,HumanRightsandDisplacedPersons UnsafeWaterandInadequateSanitationPolicyBrief
Clean,safedrinkingwaterisvitaltothelivesofboth
humansandanimals.Itisnotacommodity,serviceor
good;itisabasichumanrightandlegalentitlementfor
everyone.Ifcleanwaterisabasichumanright,howdowe
explainthe884millionpeoplelivingwithoutaccessto
cleanwater?Thesenumbersriseeachdayandmany
peoplediefromdiseasesrelatedtopoorwaterandsanitationconditions.Thispolicy
brief,willdiscusstheimportanceandmagnitudeoftheproblem,whyitisanissue,
andthewaysinwhichweasindividualsandtheinternationalcommunitycanand
arecurrentlyaddressingit.
ScopeandMagnitudeoftheproblem
AccordingtotheHumanDevelopmentreportconductedbytheUNDP,the
unitednationsdevelopmentprogramme,atanygiventime,abouthalfofallpeople
indevelopingcountriesaresufferingfromillnessesrelatedtopoorwaterand
sanitationconditions.Inorderforwatertobeconsideredsafefordomesticor
personaluseitmustbefreefrommicroorganisms,radiologicalhazardsand
chemicalsubstances.ThesestandardshavebeensetbytheWorldHealth
Organization(WHO)andiffollowedproperly,willinsuresafewaterforall.Clean
Figure1:FromUNHumanRighttowaterandsanitationmediabrief
waterisimportantbecausewaterisusedinsomanyaspectsoflife.Itisusedfor
cooking,growingfruitsandvegetables,drinking,bathing,cleaning,sanitationand
more.Imaginehavingtodoallofthesetaskswithlittletonowater,imaginedoing
thatwithdiseaseinfestedwater.Formillionsofpeople,mainlyinthirdworld
impoverished,countries,thisisareality.Therearemanyunderlying
factorsthatarethereasonwhymanyfamiliesdonothave
accesstocleanwaterandsanitation.Forexamplethebiggest
factorismoney.Creatingirrigationinthehomeitselfifvery
expensiveandtheymaynotbeabletoafforditoritsupkeep.
Anotherreasonisgeography.Thenearestwatersourceisoften
milesaway.Thesearejusttwoofthemanyreasonsthatcan
impedeafamily’sabilitytoaccesssafewater.
Thebiggestissuewithuncleanwateristhatitsconsumptioncanleadtoa
multitudeofdiseases.Forstarters,Schistosomiasisisadiseasecausedbyparasitic
wormthatpenetratestheskinwhileswimming,bathingorwashinginunsafewater.
Thisdiseaseaffectsaround200millionpeopleanddestroystheirlivers,bladders,
lungsandintestines.Withadequatesanitationandwatersupply,infectionrates
couldbereducedby77percent.AnotherwaterrelateddiseaseisTrachoma.Itisan
Figure2:FromCharity:Water,whywaterpage
Figure3:FromCharity:Water,whywaterpage
eyeinfectioncausedbypoorhygieneandisthecauseofblindnessin6million
peopleworldwidetoday.Withcleanwater,theinfectionratecanbereducedby25
percent.Otherdiseasesmayinclude,typhoidfever,cholera,HIV/aids,malaria,
intestinalworms,diarrhea,arsenicosis,salmonella,E.coli,Hepatitisa,andmore.
Diseasesfromunsafewaterandpoorsanitationkillmorepeoplethanallformsof
violenceespeciallywar.
Itsnotenoughforwatertobeclean,itmustbe
physicallyaccessible.InplaceslikeAfricaandAsia,women
andchildrenhavetheburdenoffetchingwaterfortheir
families.Thenearestsourceofwaterisusuallymilesaway
andislikelytobecontaminatedanyway.Theironlychoice
isbecomesickwithoutwaterortaketheirchancesgetting
illconsuminguncleanwater.Oftentimestheroadthereis
dangerousandwomenareatriskofbeingharassedandsexuallyassalted.Thetime
spentwalkingtoandfromthewatersourcetakestimeawayfromschoolandwork.
Thislocksthesewomenandchildrenintoacycleofpoverty,withoutaneducation
oranincometheywouldearnfrom
workingtheyarestuck.Lastly,the
containersusedtocarrywaterbackand
forthareabnormallyheavyandputa
strainonthebacksofthesewomanand
especiallythechildren.Thiscanleadto
stuntedgrowthandothermedicalissues.
Figure4:FromWater.org,Crisis,Womenandwater:AnImpossiblechoicepage
Figure5:FromCharity:Water,Whywaterpage
TheHumanRightsissue
In2002theCommitteeonEconomic,SocialandCulturalRightsdraftedand
adoptedgeneralcommitmentnumber15onwaterasahumanright.Article1.1
statesthat“Thehumanrighttowaterisindispensableforleadingalifeinhuman
dignity.Itisaprerequisitefortherealizationofotherhumanrights.”Article2states
thatthewatermustbe“sufficient,safe,acceptable,physicallyaccessibleand
affordable…personalanddomesticuses.”Sufficientmeansthatthesupplymustbe
enoughforpersonalanddomesticuses.TheWHOestimatesthat50to100litersof
waterisneedperpersondailytoensureallbasicneedsaremet.Thewatermustbe
safeandfreefromcontamination.Itshouldalsobeofanacceptablecolorandtaste.
Thewatersource,asstatedbyWHO,mustbewithintheimmediatevicinityofthe
householdorwithin1000metersandnomorethan30minutesaway.Lastlyitmust
beaffordableforallandlessthanorequalto3%ofthehouseholdincomeaccording
totheUNDP.InJuly2010,theUNdeclaredthataccesstocleanwaterandsanitation
isahumanrightthroughResolution64/292.TheResolutioncallsforinternational
organizationsandStatesto“andinternationalorganizationstoprovidefinancial
resources,capacity-buildingandtechnologytransfer,throughinternational
assistanceandcooperation,inparticulartodevelopingcountries,inordertoscale
upeffortstoprovidesafe,clean,accessibleandaffordabledrinkingwaterand
sanitationforall.”
Whoishelping,howandwhatelsecanbedone
Numerousnon-stateactorshavejoinedinthefighttobringcleanwater
globally.Nonprofitorganizationssuchascharity:water,water.orgwhichwas
foundedbyactorMattDamon,thewaterprojectandmore,allaimatreducingthe
numberoffamilieswithoutaccesstocleanwater.Inadditionmanygovernmental
organizationshavetakenstepstowardsthisgoalaswell.IntheUN’sMillennium
DevelopmentGoal(MDG)number7target10,establishedin2002,aimedtohalfthe
proportionofthepopulationwithoutadequateaccesstosafedrinkingwaterand
sanitation.In2012theymetthatgoal.InMarch2014,theWorldBank’sBoardof
ExecutiveDirectorsmetandagreedtoprovidefunds(205milliondollars)tohelp
thegovernmentofEthiopiatoincreasesaccesstosafedrinkingwater.TheUnited
KingdomhasalsocommittedtoworkingtowardstheMDGsetoutin2002.They
pledgedtobringaccessto60millionpeoplebybuildingstandpipesandpumps
aroundvillagesandothersanitationnecessitateslikesinksandtoilets.They
targetedtheDemocraticRepublicofCongo,Tanzania,andotherremotevillagesin
AsiaandAfrica.TheEUhaspartneredwithUNICEFandthegovernmentofDjibouti
todotheirpartoftheMDG.Theypledged2millioneurosin2007toimprovethe
livesofmanypeoplelivingwithoutpropersanitationand
cleanwater.
Thisfighttoimprovethequalityofwaterand
sanitationinmanyareasisnotaproblemthatanyone
governmentororganizationcanfixontheirown.Itis
Figure6:fromhttp://askaboutfukushimanow.com/page/16/
uptogovernments,organizationsandindividualstojointogethertackletheissue
together.SofarwiththeMillenniumDevelopmentGoals,theworldismakingsteps
intherightdirection,butthereismoretobedone.Moregovernmentsneedtotake
initiativeandcollaboratewiththevariousnonprofitsattemptingtobringclean
watertoimpoverishednations.Byallocatingpartoftheirbudgetstothisproblem
theyarenotonlybringingcleanwater,theyareimprovingthehealthofmany
people,providingtimeforchildrentoreturntoschool,andenablingthemtobreak
thecycleofpoverty.Inthelongrun,thisonesolutionsaveslivesandsavesmoney.
References
• UNDP.HumanDevelopmentReport2006.BeyondScarcity:Power,povertyandtheglobalwatercrisis.2006
• "FactsandFigures."2013.UNESCO,n.d.Web.17Nov.2015.
http://www.unwater.org/water-cooperation-2013/water-cooperation/facts-and-figures/en/
• "TheHumanRighttoWaterandSanitation."(n.d.):n.pag.UN-WaterDecadeProgrammeonAdvocacyandCommunicationandWaterSupplyandSanitationCollaborativeCouncil.Web.17Nov.2015.<UN-WaterDecadeProgrammeonAdvocacyandCommunicationandWaterSupplyandSanitationCollaborativeCouncil>.
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/pdf/human_right_to_water_and_sanitation_media_brief.pdf
• "ForWomen,It'sPersonal."Waterorg.N.p.,n.d.Web.17Nov.2015.http://water.org/water-crisis/womens-crisis/
• "Water,SanitationandHygiene."UNICEF.N.p.,n.d.Web.17Nov.2015.
http://www.unicef.org/wash/index_wes_related.html
• "Hrw,Decade,WaterforLife,2015,UN-Water,UnitedNations,MDG,Water,Sanitation,Financing,Gender,IWRM,HumanRight,Transboundary,Cities,Quality,FoodSecurity,GeneralComment,BKM,Albuquerque."UNNewsCenter.UN,n.d.Web.17Nov.2015.http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml
• "2010to2015GovernmentPolicy:WaterandSanitationinDevelopingCountries."-GOV.UK.N.p.,n.d.Web.17Nov.2015.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-water-and-sanitation-in-developing-countries/2010-to-2015-government-policy-water-and-sanitation-in-developing-countries
• "TheEuropeanUnion,UNICEFandtheDjiboutiGovernmentProvideCleanWatertoThousandsofRuralResidents."UNICEF.N.p.,n.d.Web.17Nov.2015.http://www.unicef.org/media/media_40167.html
• http://askaboutfukushimanow.com/page/16/
• "UNMillenniumProject|Goals,Targets&Indicators."UNMillenniumProject|Goals,Targets&Indicators.N.p.,n.d.Web.18Nov.2015.http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/gti.htm#goal7